McCain and Maddow

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sen. John McCain has been spearheading the movement to prevent our United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice from being considered as a candidate for secretary of State. His attacks have been repetitive and senseless.

MSNBC's political talk show host Rachel Maddow postulated that there may be a more politically nefarious motive in his vocal recriminations. If Rice's nomination is blocked by intransigent Republicans, then Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry would be a likely candidate for secretary of State. In that case, Kerry's Senate seat would be vacant, leaving open the possibility that a Republican candidate (for example, Scott Brown) might replace him in a special election.